The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund was established in 1906 by Toronto Star founder, Joseph E. Atkinson. Atkinson knew of poverty first-hand and recalled his own childhood growing up poor. When he was an infant, his father was killed in a tragic accident. His newly widowed mother struggled with eight small children to feed, clothe, house and raise all alone.

It was a very special Christmas in Atkinson’s own childhood that brought out his dedication to help the poor. As young Joseph was watching other children skate one day on a pond, a lady approached and asked him why he was not skating. When she heard his sad tale, she bought him his first pair of skates for Christmas. Atkinson never forgot the warmth and generosity of this stranger who made this Christmas Day the happiest of his childhood.

A young man’s view of a growing city in the 1900s

As an adult now living a more prosperous life as publisher of The Daily Star, Atkinson felt compelled to help relieve the agony facing many of Toronto’s poor and downtrodden at the start of the 1890s depression. Atkinson, often reflecting on his own humble beginnings, witnessed the onset of change and used the Toronto Star newspaper to promote a variety of humanitarian and social causes. The city emerged into a decade of incredible growth. In 1901, Canada opened its immigration doors to allow 191,000 workers from the U.K., another 6,000 from Germany followed by 3,000 from Israel and another 1000 from Italy. This influx caused the population to nearly double in the early 1900s. Banking became important; there were 700 manufacturers; middle class neighbourhoods were annexed and immigration soared. Toronto became a metropolis. Housing was inadequate despite a construction boom forcing newcomers to live in wretched conditions. Workers slept on benches – shared by other men from different shifts.

This was the beginning of civic activism that sought a better life for all. There was concern for social welfare and a push to have Toronto improve the lot of the city, not just the rich. Planners argued about the city plan of 1905 – should the waterfront be preserved as parkland? Concern was rampant about traffic congestion from the streets crowded with carriages and streetcars bringing workers to the office buildings. People were not happy about a city engineer’s plan to dump waste into Lake Ontario. Public smoking was an issue as were the mosquitoes carrying diseases.

Torontonians, a little smug perhaps, were shocked when one of the city’s legendary reformers and medical officer of health, Charles Hastings, produced a damning report on housing for the poor.

Hastings campaigned for pasteurized milk, fought to reduce infant mortality, secure fresh water and set up a system of district health offices from which nurses could visit the sick in their homes.

Hastings told the Star in 1911, “The people of Toronto have been living in a fool’s paradise. They thought they were free from the slum problem which besets many American cities. Half the world does not know how the other half lives. The truth is that one-half not only does not know, but does not want to know. They do not want their peace of mind disturbed by unpleasant details of the life of sorrows of the working classes”.

In his report, he found 198 families – a total of 472 people – living in one-room dwellings. In visits to 4,696 houses, health inspectors found 45 tuberculosis families, 390 houses were absolutely unfit for habitation, 1,348 homes without drains where waste and slop were thrown into yards, walls soaking wet, overflowing outdoor ‘privies’. They found unlit, airless rooms and one where a family of 11 would crowd into three dank rooms with three dogs and chickens. These neighbourhoods contained the largest number of immigrants forced into crowded and unsanitary housing. Hastings chastised greedy landlords who demanded “extortionate rents for miserable hovels”. The worst crowding and exploitation was of immigrant bachelors, who were trying to save money to bring their families to Canada or to return home. The smell of fear grew as did the population. Typhoid, colera, scarlet fever and tuberculosis were often linked to the newly landed immigrants but should have been attributed more to the city’s failure to provide decent accommodations and services or to help control the gouging landlords.

A grown man’s mission to help the young and vulnerable

Atkinson’s concern for Toronto’s rapid growth and the welfare of its residents was as great as any Torontonian’s concern was. Atkinson, however, had the powerful voice to speak of the issues and could persuade government to implement measures to improve the problems. He also used the paper to encourage readers to help the less privileged.

Reflecting on his own impoverished childhood, he also used the paper to tell readers the stories of needy children – the children who were most vulnerable – the children who could not help themselves during these hard times.

How a charitable program became a reality in 1906

In 1906, a young Methodist minister alerted Atkinson to the deprivation facing 30 families in York township. One hundred children faced a bleak Christmas – a thought that likely stirred Atkinson’s own childhood memories. Atkinson launched The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund, appealing to readers to ensure no child under age 12 would be without a gift at Christmas. On December 12, 1906 the front page story read “… whatever contributions made may be expended in bringing pleasure to little hearts where pleasure is most seldom felt. There are many hundreds of little folks in this wealthy city, and in this prosperous year, to whom Christmas and Santa Claus are unfortunately meaningless terms.”

As many as 300 children received gifts that first year in 1906. The gifts were packed at Trinity Anglican Church and delivered by horse-drawn sleighs to various missions across the city. The next year, 1907, the number of children soared to 1,150 and by 1912, there were 6,000 children receiving gifts. The growth in the Fund reflected the increase in the city’s needy as the Star reported in 1912, “Toronto is paying the penalty of growth in the increasing number of the poor.” Lives and lifestyles did not improve much as many were impacted by the onset of World War I from 1914 to 1918.

As the decades march on

As time moved forward, the city of Toronto grew by leaps and bounds. As the population grew, so did the need to help financially struggling families make ends meet. And as the need increased, the number of Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund boxes steadily climbed higher. Decade after decade – after decade, right into the new millenium.

Each decade presented its own unique impact and effect on various matters both globally and locally.

The 1920s, known as the Roaring Twenties or Jazz Age, still suffered with levels of poverty resulting from the American Stock Market Crash of 1929.

The 1930s suffered the Great Depression followed by Second World War before the decade ended.

The 1940s felt the impact as the Second World War raged on through the decade’s first half and the effects lingered well into the decade’s last half while witnessing beginnings of new technology including computers, jet propulsion and nuclear power.

The 1950s saw a recovery from World War II. Known as the prosperous decade and as the Golden Age of Television, this decade had most people rejoicing in the sounds of rock and roll and poodle skirts.

The 1960s were referred to as the ‘cultural decade’. A revolution started in social norms about clothing, music, drugs, formalities and schooling. Many denounced this decade as a time of social decay.

The 1970s, known as the “pivot of change” felt economic upheavals. Social progressive values saw an increase in political awareness and liberty of women or feminism. There was opposition to nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War. There was advocacy for world peace and environment protection.

The 1980s saw wealth and production migrate to newly industrialized countries resulting in job losses close to home. Child poverty rates were recorded at 11.7%.

The 1990s experienced a rise in multiculturalism and alternative media including cable television and the internet.

Through nine decades of change in our city, The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund was on hand to help support families in need.

Continuing a tradition into the new millenium

Until 2001, The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund was available to 40,000 children residing in Toronto. The year 2002, however, became a benchmark year for The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund. For the first time in its history, the charity expanded its boundaries beyond Toronto to help children living in Mississauga and Brampton. In 2004, the program expanded yet again to service families in Ajax and Pickering. With assistance from supporting agencies, our sister newspapers (The Mississauga News, The Brampton Guardian and The Ajax-Pickering News Advertiser) and hundreds of delivery volunteers, the expansion program has been a great success. Now, 45,000 children receive a gift at Christmas. The Toronto Star continues to work closely with its sister newspapers to turn this into a community endeavor in each of the cities. The campaign has become known locally as “The Mississauga News Santa Claus Fund” in Mississauga and in Brampton it is known as “The Brampton Guardian Santa Claus Fund” while in Ajax and Pickering, it is called “The Ajax-Pickering News Advertiser Santa Claus Fund.” Similar to the Toronto Star, these community newspapers help raise funds by featuring stories in their papers. The money is channeled back to the Toronto Star to purchase the product and package the merchandise prior to distribution.

The gift box quantities and contents may have changed with the times but the basic concept remains. Today, a total of 45,000 bright gift boxes are filled with a warm shirt, socks, mittens, hat, book, toy, candy and toothbrush with toothpaste. The merchandise is purchased directly from manufacturers or suppliers at significant cost-savings. Great consideration is given to each item purchased for the gift box – quality, style, safety, value and variety. The items reflect age, not gender. As a result of this process and to ensure all children are treated equitably, only cash contributions can be accepted; not donations of product or services-in-kind.

The names of the children, from newborn to age 12, are submitted to The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund by more than 100 social and community service agencies. The gift packages are still delivered to the homes of the children by hundreds of volunteers such as Scouts Canada, church groups, service clubs, etc., just as they were back in 1906.

One century later, the generosity of Star readers continues to make Christmas a little bit happier for less-fortunate children. From a memory of an impoverished childhood, The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund has been helping children smile for more than a century.